Investing.com - The Bank of Canada left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the 21st consecutive month in May and dampened expectations for a rate hike in the coming months.

In a statement released earlier, the central bank said it was leaving its overnight cash rate unchanged at 1%, in line with expectations.

The central bank said in an accompanying rate statement that, 'The considerable monetary policy stimulus currently in place will likely remain appropriate for a period of time, after which some modest withdrawal will likely be required, consistent with achieving the 2% inflation target.'

Following the release of the data, the Canadian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart, with USD/CAD shedding 0.27% to trade at 1.0368.

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